A Social Media Fable: How to Use Facebook to Annoy People

A Social Media Fable

January 13, 2010 on 11:54 pm | In attitude, social media | 15 Comments

Hi kids! It’s Social Media Fable time, and you get to pick the moral:

Once upon a time, there was a Facebook fan named Jerry. He was going about his days on Facebook, enjoying his interactions with his virtual friends, and life was good.

One day, he received an invitation form one of his Facebook friends, Mr. G, to become a fan of a bakery in a far-away town. Since Jerry had never been to the bakery or tasted their confectionery delights, he hit the “ignore” button and thought no more of it.

A few days later though, Mr. G repeated his request to become a fan of the bakery. Since he still hadn’t tried the bakery’s cupcakes, Jerry clicked the ‘ignore’ button again, and again thought nothing of it. ”Just an oversight on Mr. G’s part, that’s all,” he thought.

The very next morning, though, the invitation appeared again! Jerry started to get annoyed, but, as always, managed to keep his cool. He simply hit ‘ignore’ again and went about his day. His annoyance grew, however, when later the same day there was another invitation! ”This is madness,” he thought to himself, clicked ‘ignore’ again, and wondered what he should do.

No more than an hour had passed, though, before the invitation appeared again!

“Enough!” he cried. ”This is insanity! What would cause Mr. G to annoy me so?!”

Jerry considered several possible solutions to the problem. He could report Mr. G to Facebook for abuse. He could remove Mr. G as a friend. He could make a public display and call Mr. G out in a public forum, say, for example, Mr. G’s wall.

Jerry, being a kind soul, opted for a more civil solution. He sent Mr. G a message.

“Dear Mr. G:

First of all, thanks for reaching out. I’m glad to make your acquaintance here on Facebook. I hope things are going well for you and your business.

I’d like to ask a favor. I’ve received several “page suggestions” from you over the past few weeks requesting that I become a fan of a particular bakery you like. I appreciate your enthusiasm for this business, but I’m really not interested in becoming a fan of it at this time.

I have elected to ignore the previous invitations to this page, and I’m going to do so one more time. I’d really appreciate not receiving another request for this page.

If you have other pages you’d like me to consider in the future, I’m happy to do so. Just not this one.

Thanks again for your friendship,

Jerry”

Jerry wasn’t sure what would happen next. He waited in anticipation of Mr. G’s next move. Would he receive the invitation again? Would he be forced to remove Mr. G as a friend and mock him mercilessly in public?

No, for as it turned out, Mr. G was one of the good ones. ”I’m sorry, Jerry,” Mr. G replied. ”I didn’t realize I was doing that. You see, I’m new here, and I didn’t know that hitting ‘Message All’ would re-send my invitations to people who’d already ignored it. Thanks for the heads up!”

“No worries, Mr. G,” said Jerry. ”I appreciate your sensible response. Good luck to you, and may your bakery eventually have 100,000 fans!”

The End

_______________________________________________

So kids: what do YOU think the moral of this Social Media Fable should? Leave your responses in the Comments section. The best moral for the fable will receive a special prize: a copy of “Motivation 101: Five Steps to Activate Your Potential In Any Economy”, autographed by yours truly.

Have fun!

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15 Comments »

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A Social Media Fable: How to Use Facebook to Annoy People | The Motivation 101 Blog…

Receiving more Facebook Fan Page invitations than you can handle? Here’s a Social Media Fable with a happy ending. And you get to pick the moral!…

Trackback by BizSugar.com — January 13, 2010 #
Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by CindyKing: RT @jerrykennedy A Social Media Fable with a happy ending and a twist: you get to pick the moral! http://bit.ly/7qLsux...

Trackback by uberVU - social comments — January 14, 2010 #
The Moral (for me): Always assume that the other person’s intentions are good. Mr. G is lucky you did!

Comment by S. Anthony Iannarino — January 14, 2010 #
My conclusion / moral based on your story and my own experience is:

… that Facebook is meant for people, not buinesses.

That is why I don’t have a Facebook page for my B2B company.

Comment by Tony Johnston — January 14, 2010 #
I would do exactly the same with the message!

People are trying to do the business on the Facebook not knowing how to use it properly.

Moral of the story – have patience

Comment by Alen — January 14, 2010 #
The moral of the story is to know what you’re doing before you reach out to people especially if you are trying to get fans for your business and if you do end making a mistake be honest and direct and let them know that it was a sincere mistake.

http://www.kdf-comp.com

Comment by Matt V — January 14, 2010 #
I think the moral is clear:

Technology can be confusing. Often, in this highly wired world simple actions can have significant (and unintended) reactions. It’s often rewarding to start from a position of trust–believing the best about our fellow man.

Jerry, you handled it amazingly!

Comment by Bill Rice — January 14, 2010 #
The Moral-

Being respectful, polite and considerate always apply. Just because your online doesn’t mean you avoid those simple social tenants.

Act online as you would offline. Being social is being social no matter where you are.

It’s still about people

Comment by Jim Keenan — January 14, 2010 #
The Moral of the story is that you learn more when you tell yourself someone else’s story instead of your own.

Comment by Joel D Canfield — January 14, 2010 #
The moral: Avoid the knee-jerk response until you get all the details.

Comment by Kelley Robertson — January 15, 2010 #
Moral: Think before you act (write). Balance principles of a matter, putting yourself in the other person’s shoes (situation). Remember, you were “new” at lots of things too!

Comment by Andrea — January 18, 2010 #
I agree with the previous moral: Assume goodness is people. It will serve you well online and off.

Comment by Karlp — January 18, 2010 #
[...] a quick note to say that there’s still time to suggest a moral for last week’s Social Media Fable. I’ll be picking a winner on Friday, so be sure to check back then to see which moral [...]

Pingback by Be Great At What You Do By Doing What You Love | The Motivation 101 Blog — January 21, 2010 #
Hi,

I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the great work Look forward to reading more from you in the future.

Jenni.

Comment by Srilanka Forum — January 21, 2010 #
[...] know this is really late, but I wanted to let you know that the winner of last week’s Social Media Fable Pick-a-Moral contest is Jim Keenan, who said that the moral of the fable was “Act online as you would offline. [...]

Pingback by 3 Business Lessons From American Idol | The Motivation 101 Blog — February 24, 2010 #

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